The Trumpeteer

Come Lord Jesus Come

By The Hermits, Nov 28 2015 4:49PM

On The Eve of Advent

Last Sunday we celebrated the feast of Christ the King, and tomorrow we begin Advent, and we stand amidst a Church and a world that seems to be lurching towards catastrophe. Why is this? Christ in the Gospel of Luke tells us exactly why:

Watch yourselves, or your hearts will be coarsened with debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life, and that day will come be sprung on your suddenly, like a trap.

In the West for nearly 50 years, and more so in the United States, the hearts of Christians have been hardened, more than coarsened, by debauchery and drunkenness. Debauchery covers all sexual immorality, all lust, and drunkenness is a department of gluttony. The West has had more than seven years of plenty, it has had seven times seven of plenty, and more. This coarsening of the heart and soul has caused the West to fall into a profound stupor. The only thing that will awaken the decadent West are “signs in the sun and moon and stars; on earth nations in agony, bewildered by the clamour of the ocean and its waves”. Such things are not necessarily confined to the Second Coming, but will constantly be replayed as long as we defiantly disobey God, and no more so when we Catholics disobey God. The final act of Time will indeed be terrible, but the different acts of the drama up until then, will always show forth the terrifying power of God, which in our presumption, our pride, and our supposed knowledge of things theological and spiritual we constantly miss (For the most part modern theology is utterly deplorable and will lead people astray and finally to Hell. Most people get to Heaven with no knowledge of theology, but they do know Christ and what his demands are, namely to love God, obey his commandments, and love our neighbour in that order. Nothing is more alluring and dangerous than an overemphasis on the Social Gospel, for without the demands of the Commandment to love and obey God, we can go astray on a sentimental humanism, that puts Man and his needs before God.). Modern Philosophy is no help at all, as it is taken up with Man. In these days, which mark the beginning of this Second Vatican Council, it is more obvious than ever before that the Lord's truth is indeed eternal. Human ideologies change. Successive generations give rise to varying errors, and these often vanish as quickly as they came, like mist before the sun.

Sadly we were put on this course by St. John XXIII’s hopelessly optimistic view of Man. In the excerpt below which is taken from his opening speech at the Second Vatican Council we see the seeds of the destruction that is having such a devastating effect on the Church. I highlight the really explosive statements:

In these days, which mark the beginning of this Second Vatican Council, it is more obvious than ever before that the Lord's truth is indeed eternal. Human ideologies change. Successive generations give rise to varying errors, and these often vanish as quickly as they came, like mist before the sun.

The Church has always opposed these errors, and often condemned them with the utmost severity. Today, however, Christ's Bride prefers the balm of mercy to the arm of severity. She believes that, present needs are best served by explaining more fully the purport of her doctrines, rather than by publishing condemnations.

Not that the need to repudiate and guard against erroneous teaching and dangerous ideologies is less today than formerly. But all such error is so manifestly contrary to rightness and goodness, and produces such fatal results, that our contemporaries show every inclination to condemn it of their own accord—especially that way of life which repudiates God and His law, and which places excessive confidence in technical progress and an exclusively material prosperity. It is more and more widely understood that personal dignity and true self-realization are of vital importance and worth every effort to achieve. More important still, experience has at long last taught men that physical violence, armed might, and political domination are no help at all in providing a happy solution to the serious problems which affect them.

The dear and saintly Pope had thought that the Western World pulverized by two horrible World Wars, millions of people enslaved or killed by the Nazis or the Communists in the Third Reich and Stalinist Russia, would now be the champion of truth and lap up the doctrines of the Church with the enthusiasm of the cat that got the cream. He must have been unaware of Kruschev’s appalling record when it came to the destruction of Orthodox churches which far exceeded what Stalin had done. How could the “Good Pope John” beloved by the entire World airily declaim “But all such error is so manifestly contrary to rightness and goodness, and produces such fatal results, that our contemporaries show every inclination to condemn it of their own accord.” Then why were the United Nations pushing contraception in Africa and other places, why were the Americans indulging in economic imperialism, why were the African countries transition from colonies to independent countries so often marred by appalling violence, greed and corruption, and why were the Russians still sending people to gulags? It is extraordinary that the Divine response to this tragically optimistic speech occured within days of the opening of the Council, when the Cuba Crisis could have engulfed the World in a Nuclear Holocaust.

The final unwitting remarks and far more dangerous than any error propagated by arch heretics were the seemingly innocuous 10 words that jump out at one, as being the progenitors of all the psychobabble that has invaded the Church and had such a devastating effect on priesthood and the religious life: personal dignity and true self-realization are of vital importance. I suspect that there was a guiding hand which penned these words for the benign Pontiff. Sadly these short paragraphs have laid the foundations for the strange Church that we now inhabit. It most certainly does not describe the Kingdom of God on Earth, the Church over which Christ the King reigns. I can only say with utter conviction that Christ now weeps over his Church as he wept over Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. “Come Lord Jesus, Come!”

Welcome,

Just a little bit about us for those of you who do not know already know.
We are a tiny community of Catholic Francsican hermits living on a windy Orkney island. In fact last Christmas the wind gusts reached 100mph, yet eased down for three hours just over the period of our Midnight Mass in our tiny Chapel in one of the caravans!
However, experiencing winds that strong whilst living in mobile homes is a rather alarming and somewhat frightening and moving experience! (Even though the caravans are chained down.)
Even with the problems of the wind etc. it was a lovely Christmas, and now we at last have running water to all the mobile homes, Hopefully by next Christmas we will be slightly better set up at least as far as sewage and lighting is concerned. (We have a boat type small wind turbine and a small amount of solar power at present.) We cannot be connected to mains power due to the nearly £20,000 it would cost, and any funds we get would be going to the future set-up of permanent hermitages.
As far as the future building is concerned the plans have got outline planning permision, and are awaiting full permission, and God and donors will have to supply the means.
So we will update you later on the progress, please pray for us in the meantime.
Thank you.